Chapter 9 - THE CALL FROM A DEAD MAN|
Marco spent the night tracing the number Claire had remembered.
The call records led to a prepaid phone registered under a false identity. The device had been active for several months, but its location history showed repeated connections near a private marina outside Chicago.
At seven the next morning, Marco brought Luca a photograph.
It showed an older man stepping from a black SUV.
Luca recognized him immediately.
Richard Bellini.
The man had supposedly died four months earlier in a private medical facility in Switzerland. His death had been announced to a small group of business associates, and Vanessa had attended a memorial service.
Yet the photograph was dated three days earlier.
Luca stared at it.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, sir. The vehicle's registration, the building's security footage, and the time stamp have been independently checked.”
“Where is he now?”
“We're tracking the vehicle.”
Luca stood.
“Quietly. I want to know what he is doing, not give him a reason to disappear.”
Marco nodded.
Then his phone rang.
He listened for several seconds before turning pale.
“Sir, there's a problem.”
“What?”
“Sophie isn't in her room.”
Luca's blood ran cold.
“Where is she?”
“The night nurse says she went to the bathroom around six. She never returned.”
“Lock down the estate.”
Marco was already moving.
Within minutes, security officers searched the bedrooms, hallways, garden, and garages. Sophie's crutches remained beside her bed. Her phone was still charging on the nightstand.
Claire arrived carrying the little girl's breakfast.
When she heard what had happened, she nearly dropped the tray.
“She wouldn't leave without telling me.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Has Vanessa contacted you?”
“No.”
He called Vanessa.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“What is it, Luca?”
“Where is Sophie?”
A pause.
“What do you mean?”
“My daughter is missing.”
Vanessa's voice changed.
“Oh, my God.”
“Where are you?”
“At my apartment.”
“Stay there.”
“Luca, what happened?”
“I don't know yet.”
He ended the call.
Marco approached with a tablet.
“Sir, the rear gate camera was disabled at 5:52 a.m. A delivery van left through the service entrance two minutes later.”
“Who authorized the delivery?”
“No one. The paperwork appears to have been fabricated.”
Claire pressed a hand to her mouth.
Then she noticed something on the floor beside Sophie's bed.
A pink ballet ribbon.
She picked it up.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca turned.
The ribbon had a small folded note tied around it.
His hands shook as he opened the paper.
The message contained only one sentence.
If you want your daughter back, bring Caroline's blue notebook to the old Bellini boathouse. Come alone.
Claire looked at him.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“You can't go alone.”
Luca's eyes remained on the note.
“I'm not leaving my daughter with anyone who thinks she can be used as leverage.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Then let me help you bring her home.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, he did not see a housemaid standing before him.
May you like
He saw the only person in the house who had recognized Sophie's fear before it was too late.
And he knew he could not afford to ignore her instincts again.
